Social Practice Research Articles

Accounting as a social and moral practice: bridging cultures, balancing indigenous factors, and fostering social accountability

Purpose This study aims to investigate accounting practices within a non-Western (indigenous) context and provide insights into alternative accounting approaches and perspectives. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts an interpretive research approach to gain an in-depth insight into the functioning of accounting in Solomon Islands’ unique cultural and social-political context. In-depth interviews were conducted to gain insights into the perceptions and meanings held by participants concerning Western accounting practices and their limitations. Findings The findings provide unique insights into different interpretations of accounting and accountability through two distinct cultural lenses – Western and non-Western. The complimentary and rival explanations on what accounting and accountability are doing and what accounting and accountability should be doing will help close the gap in knowledge and contribute to shaping a better world for indigenous people. Practical implications Implications for practice involve fostering collaborative efforts among individuals, communities, leaders and institutions to harness cultural strengths through accounting. Additionally, continuous capacity building and education are essential to develop accounting skills, enhance financial literacy, promote professional expertise and build a pool of skilled accountants with local knowledge to support indigenous communities. Originality/value This study is original and provides novel insights supporting the need for accounting to recognise the importance of indigenous perspectives, adapt to cultural sensitivity and integrate cultural norms and values into accounting practices to make an impact and achieve greater social and moral accountability.

Balancing core purpose and voluntary corporate social responsibility practices: a study of charitable organizations

Balancing core purpose and voluntary corporate social responsibility practices: a study of charitable organizations

Social work’s grandest challenge: re-contextualizing racism and reducing its deleterious effects on its members and those we serve

ABSTRACT Social work as a profession has a legacy of racism, bigotry, and White supremacy that has harmed a number of racially marginalized groups of people. To this day, social work continues to be beleaguered by racialized activities at the student, practitioner, and research levels that stain its reputation. The author discusses how racist ideologies negatively affect the social work profession and how members of the profession can make immediate changes in social work practice, education, and research in an effort to eliminate racism as one of the grand challenges for social work.

Authority Over Investigation Decisions in Child Welfare Services: How is it Distributed Among Social Workers, Managers and Citizen Representatives?

ABSTRACTThis study examined the distribution of authority over decisions made during investigations within child welfare services (CWS). The distribution between various actors, such as social workers, citizen representatives and managers, was examined regarding 19 key decisions that frequently occur during investigations. The study also examined how the municipal socio‐economic status and the internal organizational conditions of CWS impact the overall hierarchical level of authority using linear regression analysis. The study was a full population study of Swedish municipalities and districts in larger cities (n = 309, response rate of 62%). The study indicates that the head of the unit holds authority over most decision types, followed by the social worker. However, the study also indicates that there are significant variations between municipalities and decision types. In the municipality delegating authority to the lowest hierarchical level, social workers hold authority over 15 decision types compared with two decision types in the municipality delegating authority to the highest hierarchical level. This variation concerns most decision types except two, where authority is almost exclusively delegated to the same actor in all municipalities. The regression analysis indicated that the educational level of the municipal inhabitants and the size of the CWS budget were the strongest predictors of the hierarchical level of authority in a municipality. High educational levels in municipalities are associated with delegating authority to low hierarchical levels, such as social workers, whereas large CWS budgets (spending as SEK per inhabitant) are associated with delegating authority to high hierarchical levels, such as top‐level managers. The implications of these results for social work research and practice are discussed.

Social Entrepreneurship and Impact on Community Empowerment in Indonesia's Coastal Areas

This study uses quantitative analysis to look at how social entrepreneurship and social initiatives affect community empowerment in Indonesia's coastal regions. Key characteristics were measured using a Likert scale in response to a standardized questionnaire completed by 150 individuals who are involved in social entrepreneurship or initiatives. Data analysis was done using Structural Equation Modeling with Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS). The results show a strong correlation in favor of social entrepreneurship, community empowerment, and social projects. Furthermore, the moderation analysis highlights the significance of stakeholder participation and organizational structure in enhancing the beneficial effects of social initiatives on community empowerment. These findings have implications for social development policy and practice as well as the transformative ability of social entrepreneurship and community-led projects in promoting empowerment within coastal communities.

What’s in a name

With the growing ubiquity of educational technology, there has been an increased need for specialised practitioners to advise on and support technology enhanced learning within Higher Education. Academic developers, instructional designers and educational technologists are all examples of these skilled individuals typically working in ‘third space’ that crosses complex boundaries - between the pedagogical and technological, and the academic and professional. However, role titles and descriptions of duties are often unclear at best, with a lack of consistent terminology used across institutions and in the literature. This can lead to confusion and tensions when working with multiple institutional stakeholders who are uncertain about the abilities and knowledge of people in these roles; potentially exacerbating ‘the academic/professional divide’ in Higher Education and weakening the collaborative relationship between TEL workers and academics. This paper presents a synthesis of key literature related to contemporary TEL advisor and support roles in Higher Education alongside a preliminary analysis of 37 recent position descriptions of these roles. The application of social practice theory as our conceptual framework enables us to further explore the significance of practices in defining and differentiating these roles. This paper offers a step forward to the ways in which clarity and consistency of these roles might be sought. Future implications of this study are included for further consideration.

Charitable and Volunteer Activities as a Social Practice: Legal, Teleological and Axiological Aspects

Charitable and Volunteer Activities as a Social Practice: Legal, Teleological and Axiological Aspects

Why Do We Fear The Robopocalypse? Human Insecurity in The Age of Technophobia

The paper aims to determine where exactly fear of intelligent machines is located in the narrative layers embedded in science fiction film stories based on the intelligence explosion hypothesis. The analysis departs from the assumption that the Robopocaliptic narrative, a science fiction narrative depicting the dystopian future of human–robot relationship, is constitutive of the irrational technophobic stance widespread in the public opinion of today’s postindustrial societies. As narration plays an essential part in our daily reflective and social practices, we are naturally inclined to look for narrative structure in popular culture, particularly in film, the most popular form of visual art, and the easiest one to consume. Nine science fiction films have been selected as relevant empirical evidence: The Invisible Boy (1957), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Westworld(1973), Futureworld (1976), Demon Seed (1977), Blade Runner (1982), The Terminator (1984), The Matrix (1999), Ex Machina (2015). The Robopocaliptic narrative interwoven with the themes of the analysed films uncovers four recurrent ideas or messages that create robotophobia: redundancy of the human race, moral indifference of robots, robots as emotional abusers, and the loss of control over one’s own mind and body. The author proposes that these four ideas or messages mirror four layers of fear, all pointing to a meta-fear: the fear of rejection to be recognised and treated as a morally worth human being. In conclusion, the author suggests that Axel Honneth’s concept of recognition opens a plausible avenue to clarify the roots of the fear of the Robopocalypse.

Experiences of families bereaved by opioid-related death

ABSTRACT Family members bereaved by a drug-related death are underserved. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 people bereaved by a close family member’s opioid-related death. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify themes in four areas: emotional responses (e.g. anticipatory grief), communication about the death (i.e. open or closed), supports (e.g. social or formal), and advice for others who lost a family member to opioid-related death. Findings highlight the need to support and reduce stigma toward people who use drugs and their families. This study guides social work practice by identifying the needs of families bereaved by opioid-related death.

A Semiotic Analysis of Social Class Representation in Pakistani Television Commercials

Semiotics interprets that how different signs are used in everyday lives to represent different things. Different verbal and non-verbal signs are used to reflect different ideologies and hidden agendas in the field of advertisements. The meanings and hidden agendas of TV commercials can be analysed in a more appropriate and effective way by considering semiotics as an influential tool of investigation. The enterprises of different domains as semiotics, linguistics and sociocultural studies make the current study as a multidisciplinary study. Media has become one of the most influential and feasible tool in the diffusion and representation of information and ideas in this globalised world with the advancement of science and technology. It encompasses strength and power to present different ideologies and agendas with the help of different verbal and non-verbal signs. The current study aims to analyse the demonstration of social class distinctive patterns in Pakistani television commercials. The study examines the representation of different social classes in the commercials by keeping in view the agendas and ideologies of advertisers. The nature of the study is qualitative. The theory of semiotics proposed by Dyer (1982) in the book advertising as Communication is the basis of the theoretical framework of the study. The commercials of renowned Pakistani television channels are collected as the data of the study. Non probability sampling technique is used to collect the data which comprises only those commercials which reflect social class representation. The analysis of the study highlights that different social classes as upper and lower classes are represented in different spheres of lives at symbolic level in the selected advertisements. The social class presentation in commercials represent the domination and superiority of upper class. The images of both upper and lower classes presented in the commercials support ideological beliefs about how social class biased practices are prevailed in the Pakistani society.

Indigenous People Struggle for Damage Repair: Assessing Shadow Networks Resistance and Pursuit of Resilience in the Context of an Industrial Disaster

This study aims to understand the emergence of bottom-up social practices in shadow networks in the context of an industrial disaster. The empirical focus involves the Guarani and Tupinikim indigenous people, victims of the Fundão tailing dam rupture, one of the world’s greatest socio-environmental disasters. We adopted a qualitative approach to identify the indigenous shadow network’s agency, resistance mechanisms, and resilience activation. We interpret indigenous resistance as a way of fighting for their existence, with mechanisms crafted by collective deliberation and community mobilization. We identified the mining industry’s efforts to divide resistance and how the indigenous shadow network rebuilt resistance mechanisms through activating resilience based on indigenous values, interconnected leaderships, and social memory from their ancestral land. We thereby advance in understanding the indigenous shadow network’s agency that allows managers to intervene with on-ground actions to maintain or enhance resistance and resilience in the context of organizational studies.

The Translation of Recovery-Oriented Social Work Practice in Child and Youth Mental Health: A Scoping Review

Abstract Recovery-oriented practice has become taken for granted and seen as the most ideal way of working for social workers alongside other allied health practitioners in the mental health field. Recovery-oriented practice is defined as a person-centred and strengths-based approach, providing interventions, as well as facilitating environmental and multidisciplinary resources to support the individual’s independence. The applicability of recovery in a child and youth mental health (CYMH) context, however, continues to be questioned. Although some research has explored what recovery means for young people, there is scant literature that examines how recovery-oriented practice is enacted when working with children and their families. This scoping review, guided by the Arksey and O’Malley’s framework explores how recovery is conceptualised and translated into practice with children aged two to twelve years who have identified ‘mental health concerns’ and their families. Qualitative and grey literature from the last twenty years was thematically analysed. The findings highlight the primacy placed on global recovery-oriented principles and expose the superficial articulation of the application of recovery-oriented practice with children. Findings underscore the need to critically investigate how social workers enact recovery approaches when working in a clinical CYMH setting, dominated by the medical model which prioritises evidence-based intervention and marginalises children’s knowledge.

Curriculum Making Across Sites of Activity in Upper Secondary School Vocational Education and Training: A Review of the Research in Sweden

Purpose: This paper presents a qualitative systematic review of Swedish research on vocational education and training (VET) at the upper secondary school level over the past 20 years. The review is based on a theoretical model on curriculum making as social practice that may serve as model for comparative studies between countries. By introducing the model, the ambition is to open for new perspectives on VET curriculum in policy and practice. Questions regarding key themes and the interplay of discourses and processes across multiple sites in the education system have not been addressed in previous systematic reviews of Swedish VET research. Methods: The methodological approach in the present paper is a qualitative systematic research review with an integrative and interpretative purpose and research design. The qualitative review is based on the conceptual model of curriculum making as social practice, seeking to capture the inherent complexity and porous boundaries of education systems and movements of ideas, discourses and actors between sites of activity. The model is used for mapping the research, and a content analysis for identifying main themes and emphases and exploring and discussing the potential gaps that may inform future international research studies. Findings: The results show that the research is focused on the micro and nano sites of curriculum making, with connections to macro site activities of national curriculum policy enactment. Research focusing on the macro site of activity has an emphasis on national policy and policymaking regarding the relationship between academic and vocational knowledge/programmes and apprenticeship and employability. In the micro and nano sites of activity – which comprise the majority of the research – the main themes are vocational knowing and identity, teaching, learning and assessment practices and work-based learning. Conclusion: An observation is the absence of principals and middle leaders as actors and informants in the studies. There is little evidence of actors moving between sites of activity and the meso site of activity only comprise a very small part of the research. In this respect, there is a potential gap to be explored, not least regarding how local curricula and syllabi are made and shaped in terms of the influence of representatives from local authorities, companies, trade unions, employer associations, universities and regional agencies. Curriculum making as social practice has the potential to be used for comparative international studies and as a framework that takes national differences in VET education systems into account.

Bolstering the Boys Club: Security Vetting, Diversity and Diplomatic Gatekeeping

Summary Much of the research on gender and diplomacy has focused on those already let into the ‘club’. This article analyses the ‘threshold’ to diplomacy: security clearance processes. Security vetting ultimately determines who progresses, and what level of clearance (and therefore seniority or position) a diplomat can achieve. This article seeks to trace the journey for individuals entering a diplomatic career. It argues that security vetting is simultaneously based on legitimate processes for assessing potential national security threats, and on values interpretation (such as loyalty, maturity and trustworthiness) which may invite bias or lead to illegitimate processes of exclusion. By excavating the gendered history of vetting, we can better understand the limitations of the current de-historicised and ‘impartial’ process. We argue that clearance processes have not sufficiently evolved over the past decades of social progress, which has negative implications for the evolution of diplomacy as a social practice.

Jogos de linguagem e neodocumentalismo

This article aims to establish relationships between a theory of Neodocumentalism in Information Science and issues exposed in the philosophical systems of Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophy, especially in its second phase, as exposed in his work Philosophical Investigations. In this sense, it is intended to establish converging relationships between the concept of language-games and aspects related to the document as an instrument for conveying information, language and social practice. After an introduction to the topic, concepts of Neodocumentalism in the field of Information Science will be presented. Then, a presentation of Wittgenstein's system will be made, especially the system of its second phase and, soon after, aspects and considerations will be approached between Neodocumentalism and language-games.

Pandemic Stress and Cyberbullying Among Adolescents During China's Outbreak of Omicron: Examining the Roles of Perceived Safety and Family Cohesion.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed risks to the psychosocial development of children and adolescents in the digital age. Under such a background, this study aims to examine the effects of pandemic stress on cyberbullying perpetration and victimization among Chinese adolescents, and to explore the mediator of perceived safety and the moderator of family cohesion underlying this association, during China's outbreak of Omicron. A sample of 822 adolescents was obtained from Taizhou in Zhejiang Province, China, based on a multistage cluster random sampling method. The results showed that pandemic stress was positively associated with cyberbullying perpetration and victimization. Moreover, pandemic stress negatively predicted perceived safety, which in turn, increased the probability of cyberbullying perpetration and victimization. Furthermore, family cohesion moderated the effects of pandemic stress on cyberbullying perpetration and victimization. This study contributes to practical implications for policy making and social work practices regarding how to protect adolescents from cyberbullying during the pandemic.

Social Group Work Practice in Coping with Problematic Technology Use in Adolescents: A Mixed Method Research

Problematic technology use is a growing concern among adolescents, with those aged 12-18 being particularly vulnerable. This study aims to investigate the technology usage habits of students, assess their addiction levels, and mitigate any problematic patterns. Conducted at a pilot high school in Ankara, Türkiye, the research involved 630 students aged 14-17. Quantitative data collection utilized the Personal Information Form, Technology Addiction Scale, and Technological Addiction Scale. Qualitative data collection included selecting 10 students for group social work sessions. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS, while NVIVO was used for qualitative analysis. The study identified high, medium, and low levels of technology addiction among students, highlighting psycho-social difficulties such as social exclusion, impaired functionality, difficulty in controlling technology use, and deprivation. Applying a cognitive-behavioral approach, group social work sessions in the form of psycho-educational groups proved effective in addressing problematic technology use in adolescents. The findings were contextualized within existing literature, with recommendations for future research including the inclusion of control groups and exploration of different therapeutic approaches in group studies.

The coexistence of halal food products in non-Muslim communities: visiting Kupang cases, Indonesia

Purpose This study aims to revisit the practice of multiculturalism within the co-existence of halal food products in non-Muslim communities in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through observations, interviews and documentation using a case study approach. Findings The important findings in the existing study indicate that social practice related to the acceptance and expression of non-Muslim communities towards halal products and certificates is integrated into the daily life of the people. It has contrasted with other regions in Indonesia where debates between cultural and structural aspects of halal product studies and certification prevail, often dominated by ego-sectoral interests and Islamic theology. Although Kupang’s predominantly non-Muslim population, the practice and model of halal products emerge with uniqueness within communal traditions and socio-cultural practices take precedence over structural factors. Research limitations/implications The most significant contribution of this research lies in mutual understanding, interfaith dialogue and religiosity that have fused into social life, specially building social coexistence in halal products. Practical implications These findings contribute to policymakers to reformulate halal certification and products, which are not solely driven by the interests of the Muslim community. Originality/value This study presents a new synthetic theory about halal products, confirming a case study in Kupang where non-Muslim communities accepted halal products as a reflection of cultural and local customs. This acceptance has led to the development of a new identity without contradictions among business interests, ideologies, sectoral aspects, hygiene, health and structural state movements.

Addressing the Colonial Legacies of Science

Science needs to address its colonial legacies. While the Te Ara Paerangi Future Pathways envisioned reforms of the research, science and innovation system has lost momentum, individuals and organisations across Aotearoa recognise, and are reaffirming, that the country’s future prospects lie in embracing Tiriti-led policies and practices. In 2021 Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research (a Crown research institute mandated to ensure that the life force and vitality of the land is strong) committed to weaving the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi into its fabric. As employees, we use social practice theory in this article to evaluate the changes our organisation is experiencing on its journey to being Tiriti-led, and assess the lessons, impacts, successes and failures. This case study highlights the values–action gaps currently evident across the science system and provides insights into the various elements required to enable transformative change and new social norms within knowledge production policies and practice.

Social norms and the dynamics of practices

ABSTRACT I endorse five central themes of Charlotte Witt's Social Goodness: the pervasiveness and irreducibility of social roles and norms; normative externalism; the artisanal model; a richer social ontology; and the possible critical transformation of social norms from within. I reframe these themes within the biological account of the evolution and development of human ways of life in Joseph Rouse's Social Practices as Biological Niche Construction. Witt's social analysis attends to human bodies as loci of artisanal skills and social salience as gendered, sexed, and raced, but not to bodies as vulnerable, dependent organisms in social environments. A broader, biological conception of normativity shifts from Witt's focus on social roles and norms to the dynamics of social practices as shaping people's developmental environments. This more complex account of social dynamics enriches Witt's conservative account of how practices are transmitted and sustained. It thereby surpasses limitations in her account of how hierarchical social norms can be both obligating and open to critical challenge from within. It does so in three ways: by emphasizing normative conflicts within practices, by shifting from individual know-how to discursive practices as loci of artisanal authority, and by an account of power relations as intertwined with biosocial normativity.